Perfect Scenario
by lilacrose167
Summary: The untold story of Vongola's Snow Guardian and her secrets. (A remake of my old story on another account) Rated T for possible cursing! Shoichi Irie x Reader
1. Chapter 1

Thank you for reading my piece of work! In case anyone was wondering why this story seemed vaguely familiar (I doubt it), it's because this is a remake of one of my previous stories! Reading back made me cringe so much, and I decided to rewrite it~ I'm just writing this for fun, but I would love some reviews 3 I don't own anything in this except maybe the extra character with her backstory and the interactions with my favourite character in the series~!

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Stepping down from the plane, a girl observed her surroundings, before smiling to herself gently. "So, this is Namimori."

That girl was none other than me, a simple teenager still in her freshmen year of middle school. I come from Italy, but was instructed to travel to Japan to meet the next Vongola Boss. I was beginning to be curious myself, what would a teenager my age possibly possesses that the Ninth decided he would be capable of leading one of the strongest mafia family in Italy? Of course, I had to come to witness it myself. To do so, I moved to Japan, and enrolled in the same middle school as he did. "Tomorrow, I'll finally get to meet the Tenth!"

Tomorrow could not come any quicker, and I soon found myself making my way to school. It was a little overwhelming, entering a new school, but rather than that, I was more excited about meeting Juudaime, otherwise known as Sawada Tsunayoshi to everyone else. I reported to the Principal's office first, before I was brought to my homeroom by my home tutor. "Alright class, we have a new transfer student, please welcome her warmly!" I could hear murmurs from the classroom, and I walked in, quite gracefully might I add, and faced the class, bowing deeply.

"My name is (y/n)(l/n), please take good care of me!" Introducing myself, I straightened myself and glanced around the classroom. My eyes first landed on a familiar silver-haired male, a little surprised to see him in Japan as well, before resting on the brunette with wild hair. Sawada Tsunayoshi. I gave him a warm smile, before taking my place in between his seat and a raven head that gave me a bright smile.

Classes were relatively simple, though I had to struggle a little due to the language barrier and my unpolished Japanese. However, before I knew it, it was soon lunch break, and I took out the sandwich I had bought that morning at the convenience store on my way to school. I glanced at Sawada, and he was chatting with the grey-haired male and raven head, though the former did not seemed too pleased with the raven head.

"Ciaossu," I heard a familiar voice, and my eyes snapped back to my own desk. As expected, standing on my desk was a face I recognised all too well. "Reborn-oji!" I bowed slightly to him, greeting him with a grin.

"Eh? Reborn, you know (l/n)-san?" I heard Tsunayoshi exclaim, before the arcobaleno hopped on my shoulder and I turned to face the trio. "She's the daughter of a close friend of mine, I've been taking care of her for a few years before I came here." Once again, I bowed to the young Vongola boss, and introduced myself formally. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Tsunayoshi-kun, or should I say, Vongola Tenth. I've heard so much about you and I've been so excited to meet you! Hello too, Hurricane Bomb Hayato, Gokudera-kun. Unfortunately," I met the raven head's eyes, "I have no idea what your name is." I said, a little apologetic. Gokudera looked a little surprised that I recognised him, before narrowing his eyes in suspicion.

"Haha! It's alright, I'm Yamamoto Takeshi, pleasure to meet you!" Yamamoto chuckled, holding out a hand for me to shake, in which I gratefully accepted. "Uwa… Reborn, is this one of your weird friends again? I told you I don't want to be affiliated with the mafia!" I heard Tsunayoshi hiss at Reborn, before I feigned a look of hurt. "Ouch, how rude, I'm definitely not weird," His face turned pale before he started to deny, "Besides, Reborn-oji was technically not the one who asked me here, but I came anyway, because I was curious how the next boss of Vongola was going to be. You seem to have a lot of potential, or Reborn-oji would have given up on you long ago." I casually remarked, and Reborn gave me a look of approval. Tsunayoshi on the other hand, did not seem to be comforted at my words.

"I-I'm not the boss of Vongola, I can't be!" I giggled at his words, but did not respond to them, instead watching as Gokudera insist that Tsunayoshi was wrong, and Yamamoto to chuckle at the whole situation. So, this was the future Vongola family…

When the school bell rang, signalling the end of the school day, I packed my things, preparing to head home before Reborn stopped me. "Hm?"

"(y/n), why don't you join us over at Tsuna's house today?" He asked with a slight smile, as my eyes slowly travelled from him to Tsunayoshi, who appeared to glare a little at Reborn. "Ah… is that alright, Tsunayoshi-kun?" He looked a little shocked, before nodding his head in slight defeat, as Gokudera scowled at me. Yamamoto simply chuckled, before proceeding to follow us to Tsunayoshi's house. The journey back to his house was interesting, I watched as Gokudera bickered one-sidedly with Yamamoto, while Tsunayoshi watched on with exasperation, while Reborn walked beside me.

"They are an interesting bunch, Reborn-oji, but are they it? They seem a little… underwhelming," I spoke softly to the infant hitman, careful to prevent them from hearing me. "There are others of course, but as of now, I think we can focus on these three."

We soon reached the house of Sawada, and I could hear a loud commotion in the house, sparking my curiosity. Before I could ask, the door burst open, and two kids ran out from the house, looking oddly familiar to me. Hitmen? I pondered trying to remember their identities, as they ran between our legs, playing tag like children their age would.

"That's right," Reborn spoke up, reading my facial expressions as usual, "I-Pin, the assassin from Hong Kong, who specialises in Gyoza-Kempo, and the stupid cow, Lambo, from the Bovino Famiglia." Ah, I watched on with realisation, the two of them are talented even for their age, already known in the Mafia world. Lambo stopped at my feet, looking up at me. "Who are you? Are you Lambo's subordinate? Bow to me and I might consider taking you in." My, my, such confidence coming from someone his age. Rather than getting irritated, I knelt down and ruffled the kid's fluffy hair. "Hello Lambo, I'm (y/n), unfortunately, I'm not your subordinate, but," I searched the pocket in my skirt, "I do have some sweets, are these enough?" I smiled at him. Lambo's face turned from confidence to that of greed, looking at the sweets with sparkly eyes, before going back to that façade of over-confidence, taking the sweets from my hands. "Lambo-sama can consider."

"Aiya, Lambo should thank Miss (y/n) for her sweets!" I-Pin chided him, to which Lambo simply stuck his tongue out and ran back into the house, I-Pin trailing behind him. We entered the house, to which we were greeted by a beautiful lady with light pink hair, and almost immediately, Gokudera's stomach made a weird noise, and he fell over, groaning in pain. "Ah! I recognise you. You're Poisonous Scorpion, Bianchi-san! It's a pleasure to meet you," I bowed, greeting her as she smiled back mysteriously. "You must be (y/n), Reborn mentioned you." A little surprised that she knew me, I smiled awkwardly, and headed upstairs with Tsunayoshi and the rest, while Yamamoto piggybacked Gokudera, and we rested him on Tsunayoshi's bed.

"Why does he react that way?" I asked, curious at the abnormal situation. "It happens every time Gokudera sees Bianchi's full face. Nothing to worry about, he'd be fine," Reborn answered, though I noticed Tsunayoshi shooting Reborn a look of disbelief. "So, (y/n), where are you staying now?" Reborn casually asked.

"Oh, I'm staying at an apartment in a high rise building, there are schools nearer to where I'm staying, but I figured I don't need a particularly large house, since I'm living alone. Besides, I really wanted to meet Vongola Tenth." I beamed at Tsunayoshi. "M-Me?"

"Right! I've heard amazing things about you when I was in Italy, about you being a weak teenager, that there were many candidates more suited to inherit the title," I could see him visibly sweat-dropping, "but yet, the Ninth chose you! You must have some really amazing talents hidden underneath." Tsunayoshi's face showed signs of conflict, but he said nothing.

After spending the afternoon at Tsunayoshi's house, and having dinner with his mother, I said my farewells, and headed home. As I arrived at the apartment building I was residing in, I entered the lift, and held on to the button to close the lift doors, when I heard a voice shouting. "Please hold on!" A little surprised, I tried to switch to hold the lift doors open, but was unfortunately too late. I caught a glimpse of a red-head male with glasses, before he hit the doors which closed a second later. "Oof!" Shit! "I'm so sorry!" I tried to apologise, but with the lift doors closed, I highly doubt he heard me.

Fumbling with the keys to my apartment, I barely inserted the key before noticing a movement to my right. Turning to glance at the stranger, I realised he was the same red-head as before, and he was too, trying to enter the apartment next to mine. Was he my next-door neighbour? Feeling a little embarrassed, I walked up to him, before tapping him lightly on the shoulder. He jumped, his cheeks almost as red as his hair, and I saw a little bruise on his forehead. "Oh! I don't know if you recognised me, but I was in the lift just now. I'm really so sorry, I tried to stop the lift doors from closing, but it was too late! I'm sorry, but it looks like you have a bruise on your forehead, please let me treat it!" I clasped my hands as an apology, as if I was praying to him, praying for his forgiveness, to be exact.

"A-ah, it's okay, really, I'm fine," He mumbled, pushing up his spectacles. I shook my head, refusing his rejection. "No! I insist, please, let me!" Giving him the pleading eyes that I had used to charm many others, he looked away quickly, before relenting. "A-alright…" As soon as he said that, I grabbed on to his hand, and led him to my apartment, after all, it did not seem right to ask him to host me in his house if I was the one who injured him. I let my neighbour into my apartment, and sat him down on the couch, heading to the kitchen to retrieve the first aid kit, before returning by his side.

"Here, please lift your head up," I instructed him, at the same time lifting his chin with my fingers. Taking a clean cloth with water, I dabbed lightly at his wound, listening to him hiss at the sting when the wound was in contact with the cloth. In an attempt to take his mind off the pain, I started to make small talk with my new neighbour. "Hm… How about we introduce ourselves? I'll start! My name is (y/n)(l/n), first year student at Namimori Junior High. Your turn!" Still wincing, the bespectacled male finally relaxed, before replying me. "I'm… Shoichi Irie, also a first year at Yumei Private Middle School."

"Oh, is Irie-san a genius then?" I asked casually. He had the visual of a student who studied hard and scored well in school, a nerd in other words, but I did not want to be too quick to jump to conclusions. Flustered, Irie shook his head furiously, resulting in me pressing too hard on his wound. "Ow!" He let out a soft cry of pain. "I'm sorry Irie-san, but you have to stay still!" I apologised, yet at the same time chided him, after all, if he had just stayed still, he would not have to deal with the pain. I hastily cleaned the wound one more time with water and finally bandaged it up neatly. "There, all better. Would you like to stay for a cup of tea, Irie-san?" I smiled sweetly at him, but he appeared to be more flustered and stood up immediately.

"N-no thanks! I ought to be going, thank you so much, see you around, (l/n)-san!" Before I could stop him, he had already left my apartment in a rush. "Hm, what's the hurry…" Mumbling to myself, I pouted as I cleared the mess in the living room from cleaning his wound. "Shoichi Irie…" I smiled to myself, he was an interesting fellow.


	2. Chapter 2

Here's chapter 2~! Enjoy ^^ Reviews give me life :3

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I was starting to get used to my life in Japan, it was almost the same cycle every day, head to school, and have classes with Tsunayoshi and his famiglia. I had also made friends with the girls in the class, more specifically Sasagawa Kyoko and Kurokawa Hana, the former whom Tsunayoshi seemed to have a crush on. After school, almost daily, I followed the Vongola to his house with Gokudera and Yamamoto, to which both of them had vastly different reactions.

"Woman, stop following us! Tch."

"Aww, don't be like that Gokudera, the more the merrier, (y/n)!"

On that particular day however, when the I at Tsunayoshi's house alone (Tsunayoshi had left school earlier), I was alarmed to find that there were dozens on men dressed in suits loitering outside his house. "Oh?" I caught sight of a familiar face. "Romario?"

The man named Romario noticed me as well, and quickly ordered his men to stand down. "(l/n)-san! It's been a while," He bowed slightly, and smiled warmly at me. I nodded my head, while Gokudera lowered his guard. "Does this mean… he's here?" In response, Romario nodded his head, and I grinned broadly, making my way excitedly into the house, and headed straight to Tsunayoshi's room. "Dino-nii!" I announced our arrival, while Tsunayoshi turned to face me, surprised that I knew him. "E-eh? (y/n)-chan knows Dino?"

Nodding my head, I headed towards Dino and gave him a warm hug, the Chiavarone boss embracing me back, ruffling my hair. "(y/n) used to come over whenever Reborn was training me to observe, we even sparred a few times!" Tsunayoshi seemed surprised at the thought of me being able to fight.

"Wa, but, you really seem to be hopeless, Tsuna. You have no talent whatsoever, and I really wanted Reborn to stay with me longer." Dino said, with a glint in his eye, and Reborn started to add on. I watched Tsunayoshi's face get paler with each jab to his pride, wondering what Dino was getting to. "If you don't get stronger, I'll have to," he takes out his pet turtle from his coat, "Bite!"

Tsunayoshi fell over, shocked at the appearance of the turtle. "Haha! This is Enzo, my pet turtle. I really wanted Leon as my pet, but Reborn refused to hand him over." Dino introduced Enzo to Tsunayoshi, while Reborn simply replied. "Of course, Leon is my partner, I would not give him to you simply." At the same time, Lambo and I-Pin ran into the room, playing, while Reborn simply ignored them.

"HAA! Reborn!" Lambo pointed to the hitman, "Time for you to die!" He took out a bunch of grenades, but Reborn swatted them out of the window without even blinking. "Ah! Dino-san's subordinates!" Tsunayoshi exclaimed, and Dino immediately leapt out of the window, taking out his trusty whip. "Get down, everybody!" He exclaimed, and grabbed the grenades with his whip, launching them high into the sky, so that it exploded without hurting anybody.

"As expected from Boss!"

"Boss really likes to prank us like this…" His subordinates seemed unfazed, and cheered on their boss, who smiled at embarrassment. "That's not it…"

"Dino, why don't you join us for dinner?" Reborn asked, as we walked down to the entrance of Tsunayoshi's estate. "(y/n) is welcome too." Was it alright to bother Tsunayoshi's mother? Maybe another time. I shook my head, "It's alright, I should be heading home! You guys enjoy dinner!" I waved goodbye to them, and left the estate, heading to my apartment.

However, I found Irie sitting outside his home, his head hung low, and he appeared to be taking a nap. I wondered if I should let him stay outside, and knelt in front of his sleeping figure, staring at him nap. His spectacles were hanging low, and I could see his soft dark eye circles. Maybe I should not disturb his nap, but he could catch a cold outside… I tapped him lightly on the shoulder. "Irie-san."

He jumped again, and looked at me with groggy eyes. "(l/n)-san…?" He sat up straight, rubbing his eyes in confusion, before he seemingly remembered where he was. "Oh! Mama and Onee-chan aren't home yet, and I forgot my keys," he mumbled, ashamed at how clumsy and forgetful he was. I giggled, and held out a hand to him, helping him get on his feet.

"Why don't you come to my apartment to rest first, before they come home? You're going to catch a cold if you stay out here any longer." Not giving him a chance to respond, I dragged him once again to my apartment, and ushered him in, closing the door behind us. I let him make himself comfortable, though he did not seem very comfortable, while I brewed a pot of tea for us. "Irie-san, you left my house so quickly the other time, I could barely apologise. How's your head?"

His face turned red, and shook his head. "I-it's alright, (l/n)-san! Really! My forehead is almost healed now, see?" To prove his point, he lifted his fringe, and showed me the almost non-existent scar on his head. "Besides, I was the clumsy one, I should've waited for the next lift…" Chuckling, I heard the kettle boiling, and headed back into the kitchen to pour the tea into two cups, and handed Irie one of them. "Here, be careful, it's steaming hot." Thanking me for the tea, he sipped it slowly, before setting it down on the table.

"Though, I am happy you bumped into the lift." I said cheekily, smiling brightly, as Irie turned to me, shocked. "Otherwise, I wouldn't have gotten to know you, Irie-san~" Almost immediately, his face turned bright red, and he nearly spit out the tea from his mouth. "W-what…?" Looking at his flustered face, I could not help but to giggle. "Wouldn't it be nicer if we were close since we're neighbours and would be seeing each other often?" I asked, my giggles dying down. Irie said nothing, and simply took another sip from the drink, not meeting my eyes.

"Irie-san, can I call you… Shoichi-kun from now on? You can call me (y/n)-chan too, it feels more friendly if you do so, actually~!" I asked him, a little timidly as compared to before, it seemed wrong if I were to pressurize him to say yes. He looked conflicted for a moment, before his expression turned shy. "S-Sure.. (y/n)-chan."

Waa, it felt like my heart just exploded, he was so adorable! "Alright, Shoichi-kun~!" I beamed at him, about to continue the conversation, when I heard the sound of a door opening next door. "Oh? Is that your family?"

"I-I think it is! Thank you so much for hosting me, (y-y/n)-chan! I'll get going now!" He waved goodbye to me, and left the house clumsily, tripping on his way out. Ah… He did not even finish his tea. Shame.

The next morning, I was on my way to school, when I happened to pass Tsunayoshi's house, and yet again, there were a whole lot of Dino's subordinate. "Good Morning, Romario!" I greeted him, as I realised I was not the only student there, Gokudera, Yamamoto and a girl was there as well. "Oh! Hello, I'm (y/n)(l/n), it's a pleasure to meet you!" I introduced myself to the mysterious girl, who in return introduced herself as Haru Miura. As soon as she did, Tsunayoshi exited the house, and was bewildered to see all four of us, plus Dino's famiglia, already waiting for him, Dino trailing behind him. He talked with his men, while Tsunayoshi came up to ask.

"Juudaime! I left my house early and was wandering the area when I happen to pass your house!"

"Haru-san too!"

"Haha! Tsuna, me too!"

An unbelievable excuse, but their dedication to their boss is indeed admirable. "Ah, I'm different, Tsunayoshi-kun, I actually have to walk past your house for the shortest way to school." Of course, he did not believe everyone's excuse, but either way, soon after, we were on our way to school.

However, less than five minutes later, a posh car drove past us and kidnapped Tsunayoshi, tying him up with a rope, and he disappeared into the car, which turned a corner and disappeared from sight.

"Tsuna!"

"Tsuna-kun!"

"Juudaime!" Gokudera, Yamamoto and Haru exclaimed simultaneously, trying to chase the car but was in vain. "It's no use, Tsuna was captured by the Momokyokai Yakuza, they are too powerful for you," Reborn approached us from behind, "Leave it to Dino and his men, they'll rescue Tsuna." He advised, while I watched on in confusion.

"Damn it, I can't trust them! I'll go rescue Juudaime myself!" Gokudera fumed, and without a second warning, he dashed off in search of said Yakuza, Yamamoto slowly trailing behind.

"Reborn-oji, but… Wasn't that Dino-nii's car?" I asked the infant curiously, who smirked in response. Not a second later, the same red car pulled up behind us, and Haru shrieked in surprise. Tsunayoshi and Dino exited from the car, the former a little shaken and now untied. "Wow, Tsuna, your family is certainly loyal, they've passed the test. I wonder how long is it going to take before they realise it's just a wild goose chase though?"

I caught a glint in Reborn's eyes, who smiled at the two bosses. "The Momokyokai is an actual yakuza, they'll find their base in no time." His revelation caught both Tsunayoshi and Dino off-guard, and Tsunayoshi, who was in obvious distress, screamed at Reborn. "We have to go find them before they get beaten up!"

Arriving at the Momokyokai base with Tsuna and Dino, we dashed up the stairs of the base, the sound of fighting already hitting our ears. However, what was waiting for us was unlike anything we imagined. The yakuza was completely annihilated, with Gokudera forcing a member to spit out Tsunayoshi's whereabouts. "Gokudera-kun! Yamamoto!" Tsunayoshi exclaimed in surprise, and they both turned to find that their friend was perfectly fine and unhurt. However, before they could reunite happily, a second group of yakuza showed up, looking more threatening than the ones before. "How dare you! Men, attack!"

Preparing themselves for battle, the yakuza charged with weapons, while Gokudera attacked with his dynamite bombs, and Yamamoto with his bat. "(y/n)-chan, stay back!" Tsunayoshi instructed me, but I ignored him. "If you're forgetting, I could put up a good fight with Dino when I was younger," I nonchalantly replied, revealing a bunch of small knives in my hands, before taking aim and throwing them at the yakuza, a number of them hitting the yakuza, surprising almost everyone except Dino. However, before I could attack once more, I was hit with Dino's whip, and fell to the ground, a sharp sting on my cheek. "Ow…" Glancing up, I realised that Dino's subordinates were nowhere to be seen, and Gokudera and Yamamoto were also on the ground, their faces started to show a visible whip mark. Amusingly, Dino was a victim of his own attack as well.

The yakuza started to inch closer to Tsunayoshi, who started to back away, but before he could escape, he was hit with a bullet to the forehead and the fists. He fell back on the ground, unconscious, before he was reborn, ripping his own clothes apart, leaving him only in his underwear. "The Dying Will Bullet?" I mumbled to myself, it was my first time seeing Tsunayoshi in his Dying Will state, and I was impressed. His fists grew to an abnormal size as well, and he started attacking the yakuza. Yamamoto and Gokudera soon got on their feet, assisting him as well, and I, too, could not stand just spectating, and got up to aid Tsunayoshi.

Before long, the yakuza was completely defeated, this time for real. "Tsunayoshi-kun, that was awesome! You're indeed as powerful as I thought, you definitely deserve to be Vongola the Tenth." I gushed, giggling as Tsunayoshi backed away, flustered, once again denying the title of boss.

"But, (y/n)-chan, you're strong yourself too! Who knew you were good with knives?" He returned the compliment, but on his face I could see clearly that he was thinking along the lines of "Another scary person has appeared…". Without a doubt, Tsunayoshi was strong enough to live up to the title of Vongola, today has allowed me to destroy any doubts I had from before.


	3. Chapter 3

Wew finally finished this after school

"(y-y/n)-chan! Are you in there? Open up, please!" Just as I was preparing my bento for lunch that day, Shoichi knocked on my door, a little too loudly, to my surprise. He was never one to initiate conversation with me, much less turn up at my door this early in the morning. I strided to my door, and opened it, revealing a rather dishevelled Shoichi. "O-oh… Good morning, Shoichi-kun! Do… do you want to fix your appearance before heading off to school…?" I suggested, seeing as how his uniform was tucked out, his hair a little messy, as though he had just awoken.

"Never mind that, haven't you heard that your school students are being targeted?" Ah, he sounded almost panicky, his voice firm, it was probably a first for me to hear him like this. Was he concerned for me? "Of course I've heard, Shoichi-kun, but there is nothing I can do about it, right? Besides," I winked at him, "There are some amazing guys in my school that will definitely stop this from happening!" Referring to Tsunayoshi-kun and his friends, I smiled, though I definitely cannot pass up this opportunity to tease Shoichi, he was just too cute when flustered after all. "Shoichi-kun, by any chance, are you worried about me?" I giggled, watching his face turn beet red.

"O-of course! We're friends, right?" He ruffled his own hair in frustration, before leaving for school, waving goodbye to me while his face was still as red as his hair.

Though, even I had to admit, it was a messy situation. The past weekend, many Namimori Middle students had been brutally attacked and sent to the hospital, boys from the disciplinary committee especially. A little worried that my friends could have been attacked, I headed to the hospital, curious yet frightened to see who the victims were.

To my surprise and horror, Tsunayoshi was also at the hospital, but as a visitor rather than a patient. "Tsunayoshi-kun…?" He was in a ward, visiting an unknown senior. Looking towards my direction, he jumped a little surprised. "Oh, (y/n)-chan! This is Sasagawa Ryohei, Kyoko-chan's sister." Greeting the bandaged man, I wanted to ask him what had happened to him before Kyoko ran in, her face scrunched up in worry.

"Onii-san, how can you possibly fall from the roof of a bathhouse?" What the… I glanced at Tsunayoshi, and it was obvious he was thinking the same as I was – what an extreme lie. Yet, Kyoko seemed to have bought it, as her brother convinced her it was a sprain, nothing else. Deciding we should leave the pair of siblings alone, I left the ward together with Tsunayoshi and Reborn, noticing finally that the hospital was in fact filled with students from our school, their faces all had the similar look of panic and worry. However, a pair of members from the disciplinary committee walked past us, and we overheard their conversation.

"It seems that Hibari-san has gone to look for them in Kokuyo Land, saying he will teach them a lesson, or in his words, bite them to death." The vice-president, Kusakabe, said in a hushed voice, though he was not very soft. "That's great, we can surely rely on Hibari-san!" The other disciplinary member rejoiced. Hibari, the leader of the disciplinary committee. A fearsome man, as I have heard from the rumours, but fortunately for me, I have yet to face his wrath.

"Ah, did you hear that (y/n)-chan? Hibari has gone to take care of it, we'll be safe!" Tsunayoshi let out a sigh of relief, grateful that the matter seemed to be resolved. However, I took a glance at Reborn's grave face, and realised that things could not be as easy as Tsunayoshi thought it would be. Reborn was holding a pocket watch, and I was curious to find out what it was.

"Reborn-oji, what's that watch?" I asked curiously, as he passed it to me. Opening the watch, it seemed to be frozen at five o'clock. Eh? "This was found on Ryohei's body, left by the attacker, according to him." What a cryptic message, but what was the significance of the hour?

Soon thereafter, Kusakabe, whom we had just walked past up about half an hour ago, was rushed to the hospital, he laid on a bed, rushed to the emergency room. Before they could wheel him to the emergency room, Reborn hopped on the bed, and removed a similar pocket watch from Kusakabe, much to the horror of the nurses and doctors. Opening this watch, it was revealed to be frozen too, this time at four o'clock. "A… countdown?" I mumbled, confused, and Tsunayoshi looked almost as lost as I was.

"It would seem so," Reborn heard me, and answered, taking out a folded piece of paper from his suit. "I got this ranking from Fuuta," he unfolded the paper, revealing the contents to Tsunayoshi and I. Fuuta? The ranking kid? When was he in Japan? Judging by Tsunayoshi's unsurprised reaction, I guessed that Fuuta was already in Japan for a while, and had become acquaintances with Tsunayoshi. The paper was a list of the strongest students in Namimori Junior High, in order. Glancing at the ranking, I understood the countdown.

Ranking at number five was Sasagawa Ryohei, and at number four was Kusakabe. Next on the hit list would be number three then, and that was…

"Eh?! Gokudera-kun! This is no good, we have to warn him!" Tsunayoshi shrieked, dashing out of the hospital, and I trailed behind him, the both of us looking for traces of the silver-haired male. Running towards school, we were near the shopping district when we heard a pair of middle aged ladies gossiping.

"Students out of school at this time? How rebellious!"

"Eh? Isn't that uniform Namimori Junior High? Didn't you see one of them picking a fight at the shopping district earlier? With another student wearing a different uniform." Hearing those words, almost at once, Tsunayoshi stopped, and changed his direction from running towards our school, to the shopping district. "Ah, Gokudera-kun, please be alright…"

Soon after, we had arrived at said shopping district, when we heard the unmistakable sound of dynamite exploding, Gokudera's specialty. Dashing towards the source of the sound, we found him battling against a student in a khaki green uniform, who wore a white beanie and was bespectacled. He appeared to be bleeding from his wounds, heavily injured and unable to continue, and was holding a pair of yoyo's as his weapon. "Gokudera-kun!" Tsunayoshi called out, and we headed towards him, as he reassured Vongola Tenth that he was alright. However, before we could leave the area safely, the attacker stood up and launched a set of needles towards Tsunayoshi. "Tsunayosh-!" I exclaimed, but Gokudera was one step ahead, using his own body to protect the Tenth, a pool of blood forming where the needles had pierced. He fell to the ground, unconscious, while Tsunayoshi tried to soften the impact. "Gokudera-kun!" He yelled out. I turned to the attacker, ready to continue what Gokudera had been battling, only to be interrupted by Yamamoto, who pushed us away from another needle attack. Taking out his bat, transforming it into a katana, he attacked the Kokuyo student, slicing the string of his yoyo. Before he could continue, however, the attacker fled the scene, leaving us with a bloody Gokudera.

We brought him to Doctor Shamal's office in Namimori Junior High, a doctor I never knew was working at our school, but his reputation as a hitman was certainly not unknown. "Trident Shamal…?" I mumbled under my breath, but he seemed to have heard me.

"Wow, it's beautiful (y/n)-chan~ I've heard so much about you, why don't you give me a kiss?" He flirted with me, extending his arms out and leaning in for a kiss. I felt the heat rise up to my cheeks and pushed him away with my hands, scowling. "Please, get away." Though he certainly acted disgusting, I had heard he was an amazing healer, though he had a condition…

"What? How many times do I have to repeat myself? I only treat women," He replied nonchalantly when Tsunayoshi begged him to care for the wounded Gokudera. Despite that however, he began to remove the needles from Gokudera's body and wrapped the wounds with a bandage. "Why is this happening to us…?" Tsunayoshi lamented helplessly as he looked on to Gokudera.

"It seems that the ones responsible for these attacks are these three," Reborn held out a photograph of three men, one of them the attacker from before, "They are escapees from a prison and enrolled into Kokuyo recently. Also," this time, he took out a letter from his pocket, "I have direct orders from the Ninth that you are to defeat the three of them and rescue the hostage. This is an order, and if you reject it you will be considered as traitors and eliminated." He ended the order with a sadistic smile, panicking Tsunayoshi even further.

"Seems like we don't have a choice… We'll go with you too, Tsunayoshi-kun!" I assured the Vongola's boss-to-be, whose face was becoming whiter by the second. Yamamoto agreed with me, and Bianchi, who had arrived earlier demanding to take care of her brother, also decided to follow along, to Kokuyo Land. We each headed home to change out of our uniforms to avoid arousing unnecessary attention, before meeting in front of Kokuyo Land.

About an hour later, we were gathered in front of Kokuyo Land, an old, run-down abandoned amusement park. Surprisingly, Gokudera had seemingly miraculously healed and was tagging along to assist Tsunayoshi. However, the gates appeared to be chained shut. I was about to suggest we look for another entrance when Bianchi melted the chains with her poison cooking. Extreme, but it worked, and we entered the theme park, ready to fight any opponents who came our way.

"Strange, I remember there was a floral and fauna exhibit around here, but I don't see any sign of it…" Just as Tsunayoshi commented, a dark figure attacked Yamamoto and the both of them fell to a hidden hole in the ground. "Seems like Tsuna remembered correctly, but since the earth covered the exhibit, we're standing on top of it right now."

"Yamamoto!" Tsunayoshi yelled out, turning to Reborn. "Shouldn't we help him?" He asked urgently, worried for his fallen friend. Although I understood why Tsunayoshi was panicking, it seemed far too dangerous for us to try to help without falling in.

"Don't be reckless, Tsuna. If we help, there's a possibility the structure might collapse, crushing Yamamoto in the process." Reborn knocked some sense into Tsunayoshi, and the latter could only watch Yamamoto helplessly. The figure that attacked Yamamoto revealed himself, one of the escapees from the prison. He growled at Yamamoto, and placed something in his mouth, attacking Yamamoto immediately, who tried to protect himself with his katana, but broke the sword. Ah, this was bad, now Yamamoto had nothing to defend himself with.

"Ha, give up, Yamamoto Takeshi. You'll never be able to defeat my animal channels." Yamamoto looked confused, as were we, at the term 'Animal Channels'. "Y'know how when you play game consoles, you can switch your games by changing the discs? Similarly, I can change my abilities to different animals." He proudly boasted, and as a demonstration, changed to what he called "Kong Channel", growing to twice his original size and bulging muscles, whacking Yamamoto as if he weighed nothing, as Yamamoto flew out of sight. Changing his set of fangs, the attacker reverted back to his original size, but his agility increased tremendously, and he could sniff out Yamamoto in the dark. It seemed as if Yamamoto was overpowered, and was fiercely protecting his precious right hand – which he needed for baseball.

"This is bad, we shouldn't have brought Yamamoto with us, he's going to get killed!" Tsunayoshi started panicking more than before, and Reborn smirked, a glint in his eye. "Then join him!" The tutor kicked his student in his head, and Tsunayoshi fell into the same hole as Yamamoto did before. "Ow ow ow…" He groaned in pain, attracting the attention of the attacker. He prepared to pounce on Tsunayoshi, but before he could do so, he was hit in the back of the head with an object. Turning around, it was Yamamoto who protected Tsunayoshi, and the attacker proceed to pounce on Yamamoto, sinking his teeth into Yamamoto's right arm. As he did that, Yamamoto used this opportunity to strike the attacker with the back of his sword, successfully knocking him out. Yamamoto and Tsunayoshi tied him up, before climbing out of the hole, and we proceeded on towards the heart of Kokuyo Land.

Spotting a set of stone tables and chairs, we decided to take a lunch break, as Yamamoto brought out his ready-made lunch boxes and tea, and Bianchi stood stubbornly beside him, forcing her poisoned lunch boxes on us. However, before we could reject her, her lunch box started to foam and bubble, before exploding, forcing us all to take cover. A new form of poison cooking? Bianchi, however, looked as bewildered as us, and to prove her innocence, Yamamoto's lunch boxes also started to do the same, blowing up as well. Gokudera seemed to have caught on that his sister was no responsible for this mess, and he threw his dynamite towards the source, and a girl with a red bob cut emerged from the smoke, wearing the same green uniform, holding on to a clarinet.

"Wow, you found me, MM, but you guys are bothersome, please die so that Mukuro-sama can pay us, and then I'll be able to get whatever branded goods I want! After all, money is what's most important." She snickered, enjoying our pained expressions.

"You're wrong, love is most important." Bianchi stepped up, holding two plates of her poison cooking, provoking the girl. MM, smirked, holding up her clarinet and seemed to play it, but Bianchi used her dishes as a shield, unaffected by the sound waves. "I get it, the sound waves work like a microwave, vibrating the particles until it was too much, thus causing the explosion…" Gokudera deduced, watching his sister battle MM.

"Nice try, but I can attack at a short range as well!" MM shrieked as Bianchi got closer to her, her clarinet transforming into a nunchuk, attacking Bianchi with them. Struggling, Bianchi did her best to avoid the attacks, before she was knocked back by MM's weapon. "Ha! Now, I'll fry your brains out!" Placing her mouth on her clarinet, MM poised to attack, but Gokudera smirked. "She… had already touched it. Everything she touches turn into Poison Cooking."

On cue, MM screamed, her clarinet becoming a manifestation of Bianchi's poison cooking, due to Bianchi's soft touch on the clarinet. She tasted Bianchi's poison cooking, and fainted on the spot, another threat was defeated.

However, we were not given any time to rest, when an old man holding a walking stick took MM's place, introducing himself as Birdy. He projected a split screen on the wall, and on the screens were Kyoko with Kurokawa, and Haru respectively. "Kyoko-chan! Haru!" Tsunayoshi exclaimed.

"My pets, the birds are currently providing us surveillance of what's happening to them, if you would look closer…" As we observed, behind each of the two girls was a creepy figure, who looking nothing like a human, the both of them identical. "Creepy huh? These two are the Bloody Twins, a pair of serial killers that had to be restraint even when they were in prison. Don't worry, they're just observing your girlfriends… For now," he let out a creepy grin, before continuing. "They're very loyal to me, so they'll do what I say. If you don't follow my instruction, I'll have them kill your girlfriends." As if on cue, the two twins stood behind each girl, their fingernails extended and sharp, slowly inching towards the girls, ready to stab into each of them.

"No! Stop!" Tsunayoshi shouted, and they stopped. "Very well, wise decision. If you want to save them… Please beat up your beloved Vongola Tenth." Birdy smiled, and immediately all our heads snapped towards Tsunayoshi, horrified.

"Now, now. I'll give you till the count of five. If not, say goodbye to the two lovely girls." Birdy continued to urge us on, but Gokudera and Yamamoto was unwilling to lay a finger on Tsunayoshi, as Birdy started to count down. "One… Two… Three… Four…" Before he could get to five, Bianchi stepped up and punched Tsunayoshi on the cheek. "I came to Japan planning to assassinate you anyway." She replied nonchalantly.

"Great, great. Now," Birdy used his walking stick to rap on the ground, revealing a large dagger, and he threw it on the ground towards Tsunayoshi, "Please stab Vongola Tenth with this." His grin grew. Obviously, none of us were willing to do so, not even Bianchi, and Tsunayoshi picked up the dagger with his own shaking hands, preparing to stab himself. However, before he could do so, a scream sounded from the scream, and all of us, including Birdy, turned to find out what happened. As luck would have it, Shamal had attacked the twin that was preparing to attack Kyoko, and Kurokawa brought Kyoko safely away from the scene, as Tsunayoshi let out a small sigh of relief.

"Don't be too glad, there's the other girl! Attack her!" As the other twin obeyed his orders, preparing to attack Haru, a battle cry could be heard, and the twin was kicked to the side, by Ipin from ten years later, together with Lambo from ten years later. Lambo brought Haru to safety, while Ipin finished off the remaining twin.

"Thank goodness…" Tsunayoshi finally relaxed, as Yamamoto and Gokudera cornered Birdy, giving him a swift punch, knocking him out as well. However, before we could proceed, Bianchi noticed someone hiding within the shadows nearby. "Reveal yourself!"

From the shadows emerged Fuuta, the ranking kid I have heard of but never met. "Fuuta! There you are, come on, we'll bring you back!" Tsunayoshi called out, but the boy merely spoked in a tearful voice. "Tsuna-nii, I-I… I can't go back to you anymore! I have to stay with Mukuro-sama…" With that, he ran deeper into the trees, and Tsunayoshi chased after him, bewildered. We prepared to follow Tsunayoshi but before we could do so, a large girder stopped us. We turned to the source of the attack, and a male wearing the Kokuyo Uniform as well was holding on to the chains of the large ball, a hat covering his eyes. He removed his hat, and we instantly recognised him.

"You're… Rokudo Mukuro," I said in realization, shrinking under his intimidating gaze. "Where's Fuuta? What have you done to him?" Bianchi asked, but he did not flinch. "I don't know any Fuuta." As he said that, Mukuro started to swing the large ball, and Gokudera collapsed, clutching his stomach. Bianchi rushed to him, worried, while Yamamoto got ready to fight Mukuro, despite his previous injuries. "Yamamoto -" I wanted to take his place, but he cut me off. "(y/n), please step back." The determination in his eyes was enough for me to respect his wishes, but I was still worried.

"Fool." Mukuro used his palm to push the spinning ball towards Yamamoto, and the latter tried to dodge for cover, but was unable to do so, and was hit by the massive ball, knocking him back. "This is not good," Reborn said gravely, a shadow casted over his eyes. However, Yamamoto grunted, standing up shakily, his bat broken from the impact. "Luckily… my bat took most of the impact." Mukuro repeated his attack, and this time Yamamoto used his bat to throw up a cloud of dust, revealing how the air currents moved with the ball. "I see. The snaked-shaped grooves were responsible for the massive turbulence. Getting a direct hit from that ball would not be good." Reborn figured out the nature of the weapon, but there did not seem to be a way to counter the attack.

"Hmph." Mukuro grunted, and threw his weapon into the air this time, and before it could hit the ground, he thrusted the weapon forward with a spin. Yamamoto tried his best to avoid it, but was dragged into the air currents, falling back, unconscious from the impact of the attack.

"Yamamoto!" I shouted out, but he did not stir, and Gokudera was still curled up in pain. Clenching my teeth, I took out my knives and threw it at Mukuro, but he flinged it away with the chain, my attack futile. I gritted my teeth, as Mukuro threw the ball high up again, bracing myself for the impact. The ball came flying through the air, towards me, and I was frozen on the spot, unable to dodge it. Before it could hit me, however, I heard a gunshot, and suddenly a huge gust of wind blew against my face. Sawada Tsunayoshi stood in front of me, the Dying Will Flame on his head, as he used his bare hands to stop the attack. I let out a gasp of surprise, how much power did Tsunayoshi have to be able to stop that massive metal boulder? He threw the ball back at Mukuro, striking down Mukuro.

As expected, Mukuro emerged from under the ball, not unscathed, but did not seem to be seriously injured. "Hmph. All the better, my true power, is hand to hand combat!" He threw his weapon in the air, and landed a few punches on Tsunayoshi, before dodging the weapon, which landed on Tsunayoshi. "N-no!" However, exceeding my expectations once again, Tsunayoshi pushed the weapon away, and provoked Mukuro. "You can't beat my Dying Will, because you're unwilling to kill!" He growled out as he normally would with his Dying Will, pissing Mukuro off, as he prepared to land more punches on Tsunayoshi. However, Tsunayoshi was quicker this time, and knocked Mukuro to his knees, his Dying Will stopping. "I thought it was strange, how I did feel particularly afraid of you… Despite your scary demeanour. It was even weirder that you never used your bare hands to land the finishing blow, and you closed your eyes whenever your weapon landed a hit. It was as if… you didn't want to see yourself finishing them." Tsunayoshi quietly spoke to Mukuro, with wide, determined eyes.

"I'm… not Rokudo Mukuro." The supposedly Mukuro revealed, shocking all of us. "I'm simply a double, the real Rokudo Mukuro… is still out there." He said with a bitter voice. "He, he manipulated me, took everything away from me!" The fake Mukuro told us about how he had belonged to a family, and took care of the real Mukuro like he was his own son. However, one day, he was awoken to a horrible sight – all his family members were murdered, and their blood was on his hands, but he had no recollection of killing them, because he was being controlled by Rokudo Mukuro.

"Why… Why would Mukuro do that, why is he attacking us?" The question was directed towards the fake Mukuro, but before he could answer, a set of poisoned needles flew through the air, and he pushed Tsunayoshi aside, taking the brute of the attack, and falling to the ground. "That yo-yo bastard…" Gokudera, who seemingly recovered, muttered, and Tsunayoshi rushed to the fake's side. "Please, tell me, what is your name?" Tsunayoshi pleaded the male, who looked at him and smiled. "L-Lancia…" He managed out weakly.

"Lancia-san, please, hang in there!" Hearing that, Lancia smiled, "It's been a while since I've heard that… I'm going to join my precious family soon…" With that, he lost consciousness, the poison spreading through his body. Enraged, Tsunayoshi stood up, as one of Birdy's bird flew towards the Kokuyo building, revealing the real Mukuro's location. "Mukuro-sama, Mukuro-sama, they were all defeated!"

"I'm going to defeat him…" Tsunayoshi growled, as Reborn reminded him that he was out of Dying Will Bullets. We moved both Yamamoto and Lancia's unconscious body into the woods, hidden so that they were protected, and headed towards the building.

The building was as miserable on the inside as it looked from the outside. It was rumbling to pieces, and the first flight of stairs we found was cut off, unable to be climbed. "Seems like they cut off almost all the ways up. There should be one way up through," Reborn observed.

"Eh? Why?" Tsunayoshi asked, clueless as to the purpose behind it. "With only one route to guard, it would be easier for them to defend against us." I answered, understanding our situation. "They've limited their escape route as well, but it only shows how confident they are of defeating us." As we explored the grounds, we found a ladder up to the second floor, but before we could ascend, the sound of a yo-yo behind us caught our attention. Turning around, the same bespectacled guy from before seemed healed, his wounds no longer bleeding, and he was ready to battle.

"Juudaime, please go ahead and look for Mukuro! Leave this four eyes to me!" Gokudera announced, preparing his dynamite.

"Hayato, the side effects of the Trident Mosquito will still kick in!" Bianchi warned him, but the resolve in Gokudera's eyes did not fade, and although Tsunayoshi tried to convince Gokudera, he would not budge. "Juudaime, after this, let's all hang out together, okay?" Bianchi turned towards our way up, and instructed Tsunayoshi to head up as well, the four of us leaving Gokudera to battle.

The second level was empty, and we headed up a flight of stairs to the third level. Peeping into an open room, Tsunayoshi discovered a boy with dark blue hair, and rushed towards him. "Ah, you're being held captive here? We're here to rescue you!" However, I noticed that the 'captive' student had no fear at all, and even had a small smile playing on his lips. Something was not right, and the aura in the room felt... wrong, creepy even. "Tsunayoshi-kun, please wait!" I called out, as Bianchi realised what I did as well. "He's… Rokudo Mukuro!"

Chuckling, the boy with the blue hair stood up, revealing a set of heterochromia eyes, his right eye a ruby red with the kanji six where his pupil should be. "Kufufu, nice intuition, (y/n), no wonder you're part of the legendary eight." The… what? I had no clue of what he was talking about, but when he said that, I felt a pang in my head, and I clutched my head, letting out a gasp. Before I could question him, he turned his attention to Tsunayoshi. "She's right. I am the real Rokudo Mukuro." He chuckled again, and we heard a loud noise to our left, the source coming from Fuuta, who was hidden when we entered the room. "Fuuta! You're safe!" The boy said nothing, but was holding a trident as he approached us. He seemed like a zombie, shuffling towards us slowly, and before we could say anything, he stabbed Bianchi with the trident, the woman falling to the ground, bleeding and out cold. "Fuuta!" Tsunayoshi cried out, but the boy did not listen, and lunged at Tsunayoshi, this time adamant on stabbing the Vongola Boss-to-be. "Tsunayoshi, he's being controlled, by Mukuro!" I shouted out to Tsunayoshi, and he realised it as well, taking out a whip that I recognised as Dino's and preparing to attack Mukuro in an attempt to stop the mind control.

However, he was unfamiliar with the weapon, and did not know to harness, whacking himself in the face with the whip, causing Mukuro to let out a hearty laugh at his clumsiness. Though luck may have it, Fuuta was entangled in the whip, reaching out to pick up the trident he dropped. Before he could stab Tsunayoshi with it however, Tsunayoshi spoke up. "I don't blame you. Fuuta, it's not your fault. You have us, please, come back to us." As if on cue, Fuuta screamed in pain, dropping the weapon and held on to his head, tearing up. He looked up at Tsunayoshi, and smiled, thanking him, before fainting as well, exhausted beyond belief.

"(y/n)." Reborn hopped next to me, as I sat on the ground, still clutching my head. "Stay out of this battle, you don't seem to be able to handle it with your headache." He instructed, and I was ready to protest, before he interrupted me. "Reborn-oji -"

"(y/n). Listen to me." He said once again, sternly, and I bit my lip, unable to protest further. "Fine." Yet, I really wanted to know what Mukuro meant by 'the Legendary Eight'. People say it's normal to not remember anything from when you were young, maybe from ages one to four, but something was different with me. As hard as I try, I can never remember anything before the age of nine. It was just an empty canvas to me, yet I knew something was wrong, but nothing could be done to recover my memories. It was as if someone took it out of me and threw it to somewhere far. It scared me, but for as long as I can remember, Reborn was one of the few people who had been beside me. They told me I had a mother who passed away shortly after I was born, but even then, I could not remember how she looked like. It scared me, but I was helpless, no one was willing to, and had the capacity to help me remember. Yet, when I met new people from the mafia, most of them recognised me even though I had no recollection of meeting them ever. Once or twice, I even caught fear in their eyes, but could not understand why. Ugh… just thinking about it made my head hurt more than it did before.

"Rokudo Mukuro, what are people to you? How can you do this?!" I heard Tsunayoshi scream at Mukuro, his glare piercing and determined. "Kufufufu, if I had to answer… Toys? Humans are pathetic toys." Mukuro continued to provoke Tsunayoshi, who retaliated by once again picking up the whip and using it against Mukuro, missing once again. Instead, Tsunayoshi howled in pain, falling to the ground. "The Dying Will Flame?" Tsunayoshi mumbled through his pain, and looking back at Mukuro, I realised he was right. A different colour than Tsunayoshi's, but there was no mistaking it, there was a small Dying Will Flame on Mukuro's strange eye, this time the kanji on his eye read the number four. However, it soon turned to the number one, and the ground started to crack, a pool of lava below our feet.

I was caught off guard as well, nearly starting to panic, before I heard a voice in my head, coming back to my senses. "An Illusion!" Right, I have experienced something similar before, but where? I heard Tsunayoshi yelp in horror and fear, but Reborn kicked him in the shin, waking him up from the illusion. "It's an illusion, stupid!"

"H-huh?"

"Kufufu, my power is The Six Paths of Reincarnation, after I've experienced all six paths myself. What you've experienced is the Realm of Hell. They may be illusions, but if you can't get past these illusions, you'll be consumed by my illusions." Mukuro explained, grinning evilly in the process. "What a monster, to have gone past all six realms." Reborn commented, as I felt a shiver go up my back.

"Of all people, I don't want to hear it from a cursed infant like you, Arcobaleno." Mukuro shot back, and Tsunayoshi looked towards Reborn curiously. The sentence sent another sharp pang to my head, making me clench my fist in pain. This time, the kanji turned to the number three, and snakes appeared all around Tsunayoshi, and around me as well. I tensed up, withdrawing a few knives. "Ah… are they illusions as well?" Looking over to the Vongola Boss, he appeared to be rather relaxed, convincing himself that the snakes were not real. "Don't be naïve, Tsunayoshi-kun, these are real!" I shouted out to him, stabbing two snakes at once, as they started to close up around me. "Eh?!"

"Kufufu, that's right. The Realm of Beasts is the third path, and I can summon whatever animal you could possibly dream to fight for me." At least I had my knives to protect me, but Tsunayoshi seemed to be cornered, and all hope seemed lost when a bunch of dynamite flew through the air, knocking away the snakes, and at the same time a tonfa flew towards Mukuro, who avoided it by knocking it away with his trident. From the direction where it came from, emerged a raven-haired kid with Gokudera around his shoulders. "Gokudera-kun! Hibari-san!" Tsunayoshi called out in relief, as Hibari casted Gokudera to the side coldly. "I've repayed my debt, now, I'll bite him to death." He meant Mukuro, who simply chuckled in amusement. I headed towards Tsunayoshi and Gokudera, who seemed to be alright other than scratches and the side effect from Shamal's medicine.

"Oh? Even as you're half-dead, you can still fight well, kufufu, impressive, Kyoya Hibari." Mukuro said, dodging Hibari's ferocious and unrelenting attacks. "I guess, I'll have to take them out again." The kanji turned to one once again, and this time the room was filled with the illusions of pink sakura trees.

"Shamal infected Hibari with the Sakura-kura disease earlier, where Hibari wouldn't be able to stand straight in the presence of Sakura. This could be bad…" Reborn answered the question in my head before I could voice it out, as Hibari hesitated, stopping his attack on Mukuro. However, before Mukuro could gloat, Hibari lunged forward, landing an attack on Mukuro, knocking him out.

"Nice try, but Shamal gave me the antidote earlier, so the Sakuras were useless." Gokudera held up the antidote, a smirk on his lips. Mukuro appeared to be unconscious, and Tsunayoshi cheered, as we prepared to leave with the injured. "Kufufufufu…" An ominous vibe could be felt from where Mukuro was, and we turned to his body, where he had sat upright, holding a long silver gun. "This is goodbye, Sawada Tsunayoshi." And with that, he shot himself in the head, catching all of us in surprise. "I guess Mukuro would rather die than get arrested and sent to prison."

However, Tsunayoshi's face did not seem to relax, he seemed troubled and before I could question him, Bianchi stirred awake, her hair covering her face. "Ahh… This hurts, Hayato, can you help me up?" She groaned, sounding like she was in pain. Gokudera scowled, but headed in her direction anyway. "It can't be helped I guess…" Before he could reach out to Bianchi, Tsunayoshi suddenly shouted out, warning Gokudera. "Gokudera, don't go near her!"

"Huh? Juudaime?" Mukuro's trident grazed Gokudera's cheek, and holding the very weapon was his sister, Bianchi, who feign ignorance on why she attacked Gokudera, before she finally lifted her head, and her right eye was revealed to have the very same Kanji that Mukuro had. "Mukuro!"

"Kufufu, very smart. I've returned from Hell, and you're experiencing yet again another realm of Hell." However, as soon as Mukuro said that (through Bianchi), Bianchi collapsed on the ground, and Gokudera started to walk towards Tsunayoshi, his hand held out towards his boss. Tsunayoshi dodged the attack that came from nowhere, this time Gokudera was holding out the trident, and he was also revealed to be possessed by Mukuro.

"You impressed me, Vongola. You're the first to be able to see through my possessions so quickly. Kufufufufu."

"How do you have the Possession Bullet? According to records, all information of the bullet had been destroyed when the Estraneo was wiped out!" Reborn demanded to know from Mukuro, who only continued to laugh. "It belongs to me." He replied simply, through Gokudera, when Bianchi started to stand up again, and the door slammed open, his two subordinates walking in, both possessed as well. Hibari also stood up, possessed and preparing to attack, "What a fearsome boy, he could still fight when his body is in this pathetic state." He lunged at Tsuna once before he was out cold, his body no longer fit for battle.

"Hieee!" Tsunayoshi shrieked, trying his best to avoid their attacks but it was obvious his stamina was dropping. "Please, Reborn, (y/n)-chan, help me! I can't defeat Mukuro on my own…" He begged as he continued running away. I felt a pang of guilt but remembered what Reborn had told me earlier, not to participate in this fight. "Dame-Tsuna, if you had the will, you would be able to defeat Mukuro alone!" Reborn helped Tsunayoshi alright – by knocking some sense into him.

"Kufufufufu, Arcobaleno, you have indeed given up, haven't you? Placing your hopes in this boy who would never survive in the Mafia, you're just sentencing all of you with the death penalty."

However, a wave of determination could be felt coming from Tsunayoshi, and he shouted out his determination. "I… I want to defeat Rokudo Mukuro!" Just as he said that, Leon, who had taken on the shape of a ball previously rose up into the air, and green strands started sticking on the surfaces of the room. "W-what…?"

"Hm." Reborn smirked, "Leon's providing you with new weapons. When Dino was faced with a life and death situation previously, Leon also made weapons in this state, and he produced Dino's whip and Enzo." Tsunayoshi looked at Leon in anticipation, but was rudely interrupted by Mukuro, who started attack Tsunayoshi before the latter could get a chance to receive the new weapons. Mukuro also attacked Leon, who fell to the ground with a splat, but was able to revert to his original chameleon state. All that was left in the air was a pair of mittens, to which Tsunayoshi could only receive it unwillingly, for it did not seem as if a pair of mittens would help him in this battle.

Mukuro only laughed aloud in amusement at the worthless-looking weapons, and resumed trying to stab Tsunayoshi with the trident. He aimed for Tsunayoshi's hand, which had the mittens on, but something in the mittens protected Tsunayoshi. "Eh…?" Taking out the mittens, a new bullet fell out, and Reborn immediately instructed Tsunayoshi to pass it to him. Mukuro tried to prevent the exchange, but Reborn was faster and managed to load his gun with the new bullet, shooting at Tsunayoshi before Mukuro could continue his attacks.

Tsunayoshi laid on the ground for a while, seemingly unconscious. "Was the bullet completely useless…?" I asked Reborn, but he only smiled, as Mukuro headed towards Tsunayoshi with the trident, preparing to possess the boss candidate. Before he could do so, however, Tsunayoshi was reborn, this time much calmer than his usual Dying Will mode, and his mittens from before were transformed into a pair of black gloves with a "X" on each of them. "Is that… the legendary Hyper Dying Will mode?" I asked, and Reborn nodded in response.

"Rokudo Mukuro… Unless I defeat you, I cannot die in peace!"

With this new bullet, Tsunayoshi's combat abilities were strengthened, and his speed was like nothing from before. In a flash, he knocked out all those whom Mukuro was possessing from before, forcing the illusionist to return to his own body. Having returned to his body, Mukuro placed a hand on his right eye, chuckling eerily. "Kufufu, I really hate using this path, but you're going to have the honour of experiencing it for yourself!" Removing his hand, the kanji on his eye had switched to five, and a dark aura started to surround his body.

"The realm of Humans, the deadliest path, but the most powerful. Humans are truly fearsome, the worst!" Mukuro spat, and sprinted towards Tsunayoshi, his speed dramatically increasing as compared to before, as well as his power, as he gave Tsunayoshi a big punch, sending him into the wall. "Losing your will already? I'm just getting warmed up! Simply changing your aura won't defeat me!" Mukuro reappeared in front of Tsunayoshi, and prepared to stab him with the trident when Tsunayoshi grabbed a hold of the trident.

"My Dying Will flames aren't just an aura," and to prove that, the gloves started to produce flames, heating the trident up, causing Mukuro to flinch. Tsunayoshi turned the tide around by slamming Mukuro into the ground this time, "It's about time you stop warming up, Mukuro."

"Kufufu...Kuhahahaha!" Mukuro burst out laughing, almost like a maniac. "I'm really amused by you, Sawada Tsunayoshi. You've surpassed my expectations, your power is greater than I imagined! All the better, because that way, I can wipe out the entire Mafia by attacking the other families directly, and bring about a mafia war! When that's done, I'll start a world war, and eradicate the darkness in this world!"

"Why? Why are you so bent on destroying the Mafia? What happened?" Tsunayoshi started to ask, but Mukuro ignored his question, dashing towards Tsunayoshi in hopes of attacking him again. "An illusion!" The voice screamed in my head, and Tsunayoshi realised it as well, as he did not make any movement to avoid it. However, the illusion disappeared as soon as it hit Tsunayoshi, and a bunch of rocks were hidden behind the illusion. "Don't get cocky, Sawada Tsunayoshi." Mukuro, who took the opportunity to launch himself midair, attacked Tsunayoshi from above, but Tsunayoshi dodged quickly, positioning himself behind Mukuro and once again smacked Mukuro into the ground. Mukuro got up again, his face bloodied from his wounds, and seemed to have given up. "Kill me, Vongola. I'd rather die here than be caught by you filthy mafia." An impossible request, and Mukuro seemed to know it as well, as Tsunayoshi hesitated, giving Mukuro the opportunity to grab his wrists and force it behind his back, restricting his movements. "Do you know why I sent so many assassins after you, Sawada Tsunayoshi? It was to draw out your true potential, too bad you have such a weak heart, your fatal weakness!" With that, he threw Tsunayoshi to a wall, cackling loudly. "Look behind you, Tsunayoshi, it's over!"

I turned to the direction Tsunayoshi was headed towards, and spotted the glint on the wall. Stuck between the rubble was the trident, its daggers towards Tsunayoshi, ready to pierce him anytime. "Tsunayoshi-kun, watch out!" I screamed, as he positioned his arms backwards, and started thrusting out flames from the gloves, stopping his movement and instead he flew towards Mukuro, grabbing on to Mukuro's face and smashing him against the wall, knocking him out cold.

"It's… over…" I mumbled, as Tsunayoshi returned to his usual self, staring down at Mukuro's unconscious body. "Ah! How's everyone?" He immediately asked Reborn. "(y/n)-chan, how's your head?" I smiled reassuringly to him, while Reborn replied. "Don't worry, the medical team is already checking on Lancia and Yamamoto, they'll be here in a moment."

"Reborn-oji…" I started, with the intention of asking him what Mukuro meant by "Legendary Eight" when Reborn turned away, "We'll talk another time, (y/n)." I could tell from his tone he was not willing to talk, and shut my mouth. We heard a groan, and turned towards the source of the sound, finding that Mukuro's henchmen were awake and inching towards Mukuro despite their injuries. "Get… get your hands away from Mukuro-sama!" The more aggressive of the pair shouted, his glare shooting daggers at Tsunayoshi.

"Even after he used the two of you like tools…? Why are you still defending him?" Tsunayoshi asked, almost out of pity for them. "Don't talk like you know us," this time, it was the one in glasses who spoke, his face wounded as well.

"Mukuro-sama was the one who rescued us, when we were treated like guinea pigs for you stupid Mafia! When our family was crumbling, they resorted to develop extreme weapons, and tested them on us children. They were so cruel, and we wished we would die so it could end. Then one day, he showed up. He was always so quiet, no one ever heard his voice, that was the day we finally heard his voice, after he slaughtered everyone in that family and invited us to join him. He saved us!" The aggressive one shouted with all his might, despite his wounds. "You guys are from the Estraneo family, right? No wonder Mukuro had the forbidden Possession Bullet." Reborn realised, the puzzle pieces falling together.

"It was forbidden for all of your convenience's sake! After that, our family were slaughtered and treated like pests, and we children had to suffer because of you guys! Where Mukuro-sama will be is where we belong!" The one with the animal channels spat at Reborn, pissed beyond words.

"I… I can't imagine what kind of hell you guys had to go through," Tsunayoshi said, clenching his fist, "I know why you guys hate the Mafia so much now, but I can't let my friends get hurt as well, because that is where I belong too!" As he said that, fog started to flood through the room, and three masked men showed up with chains, capturing the three Kokuyo students with them. "Ah! Where are you taking them?" Tsunayoshi asked, trying to follow the captors before Reborn stopped him.

"That's the Vendicare, they take care of crimes regular law cannot take care of. They are harsh, so it's unlikely that all of them will be given a light punishment after their wrongdoings, Lancia too." Reborn answered him gravely, "Don't try to stop them, you will only get yourself in a lot of trouble."

The medics soon showed up and started to treat Gokudera and Bianchi, and Tsunayoshi doubled up in pain, his body aching badly after the use of the new bullet for the first time, soon falling into a deep slumber. "Nicely done, you managed to fulfil the Ninth's orders, Tsuna." Reborn said to the unconscious him, before lying down beside him, taking a nap as well. I slowly walked to them, smiling at the pair. "They sure do make a great combination…"


End file.
